Bib construction



Oct. 10, 1950 o J. BRITTQN BIB CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 25, 1946INVENIOR. $190M firzfi aza BY hwrfflw/ Patentedoct. 10, 1950 v STATS Myinvention relates to a child bib.

An object of my invention is to provide an improved bib construction foruse by small children while eating which is inexpensive to manu facture,easy to apply to and remove from the child and fully protects the childsclothing from being soiled.

Another object of my invention is to provide a combined bib andprotective cover therefor both of which are carried and supported by acommon flexible ring which may be easily applied. to and removed fromthe childs neck.

A further object of my invention is to provide a combined bib andprotective cover therefor both of which are carried by a flexible ringwhich may be quickly and easily applied to various neck sizes and inwhich the bib is arranged so that it may be removed from the ring forapplication of a clean bib without disturbing the protective cover.

My invention further contemplates the pro vision of a bib assemblywherein the ring which supports the bib and is applied to the neck ofthe childis arranged with offsets so constructed, and arranged as tosupport the bib in a position such that when placed on the child the bibis stretched taut beneath the chin of the child so as to prevent thedropping of food particles beneath the upper edge of the bib and theconsequent soiling of the childs clothing.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will be particularly setforth in the claims and will be apparent from the following description,when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear elevation of the novel bib assembly of my inventionshowing uppermost the side of the bib which is placed against theclothing of the child;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1in the direction indicated by the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is a view showing the ring support which carries the bib and bywhichthe bib is supported from the neck of the child.

The childs-bib assembly of my invention comprises the bib proper H, aprotective cover i2 and a supporting partial ring l3. The bib proper Hmay be of any suitable material but preferably is of a rough towelingadapted to absorb reasonable amounts of wet foods such as soup or milklikely to be spilled by a child while eating.

1 Elaine. (@l. 2-9) ihe protective cover l2 which lies on the inner sidetoward the child may be of thin sheet rubber or other suitablerubberized or water repcllent material. The bib proper i l and theprotective cover 52 lie in superimposed flat relation to each other asshown most clearly in Fig. 2.

The supporting ring is may be of a suitable material, for example, aplastic such as Lucite or Plexiglass. Preferably also the ring 53 issomewhat resilient so that it may be spread apart at its open ends it.The distance across the opening defined by the ends i l, together withthe flexibility of the material of which the ring is made, enables thebib assembly to be employed with children having a relatively wide rangeof neck sizes. The ring, at its ends, is curved on a smooth circle, asshown at it, so as to present a smooth non-irritating surface to theneck of the child. -When applied, the ends 1 iengage the neck justbehind the largest diameter of the neck of the child.

Any suitable means may be employed to enable the protective cover E2 tobe threaded over the partial ring 23. As shown in the'drawings, on theinner side of the protective cover, a segment of material H has beenstitched, as indicated at it, to the protective cover. Between theprotective cover and the segment of material I I an an nular opening l9extends through which the ring is is threaded, as shown in the drawings(see Fig. 2).

The opening i9 is somewhat larger in cross sectional area, as shown inFigs. 2 and 3, to accommodate freely the enlarged ends i l of the ringand permitsome looseness after the ring is threaded so that the ring 13may be expanded or the distance between the ends increased, in themanner described above, to enable the ring to be slipped over the neckof the child without tearing the stitching or otherwise damaging theprotective cover.

Any suitable means may be provided for enabling the bib proper i I to bethreaded over the ring. As shown in the drawings, a pair of strips ofmaterial 2i are sewed to the inner side of the bib proper l l in suchmanner as to leave en-- larged open loops through which the ring may bethreaded as illustrated in the drawings. The loops are loose withrespect to the ring to allow expansion of the ring and to permit ease ofthreading the ring therethrough.

It will now be noted that the loops 22 are spaced apart by approximatelythe diameter of the ring so that the upper edge 23 of the bib liesapproximately across a diameter of the ring. The

belowthe position shown in Fig. 1.

upper edge 23 of the bib is preferably folded. over and stitched, asshown at 25, to give some stiffness to the upper edge and minimize thetendency of the relatively soft flexible material to sag or gape at theuper edge.

A certain amount of fullness is allowed alon the top edge 23 so thatwhen the bib assembly is applied to the childs neck the fullness istaken up by the neck contour and the upper edge is stretched taut acrossand shapes'itself to the neck to prevent food from dropping on theinside of the bib. Moreover, it will be noted that the upper edge 24 ofthe protective cover is spaced below the upper edge 23 of the bib properwhereby milk or other liquid material which may drip down the chin ofthe child is received and absorbed'by the material of which the bibproper is made.

As a further aid to supporting the bib so that the upper edge 23 thereoflies approximately across a diameter of the ring, the ring is providedwith a pair of offsets or bent portions '26 which act as stops toprevent the bib from slipping down The offsets 26 divide the ring intotwo sections, an arms section '21 and an arc section 28. Preferably thelocation of the offsets, to prevent slipping of the bib, should-beapproximately at the juncture defining the maximum width of the armssection and the arc section. The offsets not only prevent the bib properfrom slipping downward but also prevent the protective cover fromshifting upward.

It will now be appreciated that when the bib assembly is applied to thechilds neck the offsets and the spacing and looseness of the loopsenables the expansion of the ring while still supporting the bib in itsproper position. With the bib supported, the material of the-bib along'theupper edge is drawn-somewhat taut, without undue pressure, byreason-of the roundedcontour of the childs neck. In addition theexpansion of the ring, in most cases, causes the ring to engage the ends29 of the loops and pull the material across the upper edge 23'taut.

V It will further be noted that the bib assembly may be easily removedfrom the childs neck 4 merely by grasping the lower edge thereof andpulling slightly thereon so as to spread the resilient ring. Moreover,it will be observed that the protective cover is first threaded over thering and that the bib proper I l is applied thereafter. This enables thebib proper II, when it has become soiled, to be removed and replacedwithout disturbing the protective cover.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of my invention, itwill be apparent that various changes and modifications may be madetherein, particularly in the form and relation of parts withoutdeparting from the subject of my invention as set forth in the appendedclaim.

I claim:

A childs bib assembly comprising, in combination, a bib having an upperedge adapted to extend beneath the chin of the child, a resilientpartial ring having spaced apart ends adapted to be slipped overth'eneck "of the child, a protective cover for thebib having atop edge andhaving means for enabling it to be'threade'd over the ring, spaced meanson the bib enabling the bib to be threaded over the ring with the'top'edge of the bib above the top edge of the protective cover, saidmeans being spaced apart a distance approximatelythe diameter of thering whereby when the bib assembly is applied to the child the upperedge of the bib lies substantially taut beneath the childs chin andextends approxtmately across the diameter of the ring, and a pair ofoffsets on opposite sides of the ring-for aiding in supporting the bibin said approximate diametral position.

ORSON J. BRITTON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the

